Seismic exploration apparatus



A. C. WINTERHALTER SEISMIC EXPLORATION APPARATUS sept. z, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 24. 1947 INVENTOR. ed C. winerllaer H ATT RNEY sept. 2, 1952 Filed Jan. 24, 1947 A. C. WINTERHALTER SEISMIC EXPLORATION APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /Q Alfred IN V EN TOR.

C. Winerhaler d,Mm fag ATTO NEy SePf- 2, 1952 A A. c. WINTERHALTER 2,609,438

SEISMIC EXPLORATION APPARATUS Filed Jan. 24, 1947 v s sheets-sheet s AMFLIHER IN VEN TOR.

C. Afinerllal r Patented Sept. 2, A1952 i i 72,609,433" i i .seismicEXPLORATONAPPARATUS Y Alfredo. Winterhuer, Beaumont, grex.; assigner to Sun Oil Company, Philadelphia, Pa., 'acor- L,:porationoiNevvJersawv f 1 j smiieatieirjeriuery 24, 1947, seriaiNe. 'i24,;0571;

.3 claims.` (01. 17d-#352 This invention Vrelates to seismicI exploration methods and app'aratusand'has particular reference to seismic exploratiomcarried outojver -water or other areas precldingthe'convenient handling'of seismic detectors and'detectorlin'e's.

As ordinarily carriedouufon land seismoi 4graphic exploration involves interconnections fof tlieyarious parts of the apparatus bycablesr, 'when radioapparatus is usedn part, attendance of, operators at the detectors; ,It `Willlofeievident that thefconventional methods4 used on land` in vt'lnf's"Work arefnotapplicable to exploration vover dfeepivvater becauseV of the impracti'cabilityk of `running connecting lines from a series ofdetectors toa central recording unit or the alternative inipracticability of having `a competent instru- Y nient,operator and boat at each detector location, `using a singleV channel `recording 'instrument at eachsuch location. p

It is an object of the 'present invention to proare picked up bya'series 'ofV detectors indicated at"i2.""'1hese jdetectorsfmay Vbe lof any conventional type suitable' for the particular exploration which is 4being carried'out. lAswill be evident the exploration` may be'eitherrof therefraction. or resection typeanc the detectors may tenerme various known types which 'may be selectively're'- sponsive towaves arriving' from different direc-jtions, frequency selective, or Vthe like.I In' any case,th`e' detectors jmay j'be 4subrnerged vin Vthe ivatensupportedf'byfloats, or `may be located on Vvide 1a method and `"app'aratus for exploration` adapted to watercovred areaspr s imilarfareas 'suchas in swamp land or diilcult Iter-r'mfn as, for example jungles, whereconventional operations are impractical. In fact, as Willbe evidenafthe invention is applicable to l seismic exploration over. ordinary terrain involving a saving in physical'joperations by elimination of connecting -cablesbetween various parts lof `the apparatus. Y.

Briey stated Athe ir'n/entioii.involvesh 4the Lloc'a- 'non er fedro transmnterslet rhemdividuerdetector stations with provision of a 'single jreceivi-ing station whichmay be adjacent to the shot point oir-elsewhere andvwhich, in simple fashion, "is capable of segregating and simultaneouslyfrecording the various signals from the transmit- ,telisff` ASecondary. objects of the invention relate to the provision of methods'and means for securingthe desired results `in simple reliable fashion vvitha minimum of apparatus. These andother 4objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing description read inconjunc- `tion with the accompanying drawingsinwhich:

.Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating the *elements involved in seismic explorationin accordance. with the invention; l l p, Figure. 2 is a diagram illustrating details of the signal transmitting apparatus associatedlvvith individual detectors; "and"` Y Figure/3 is a diagna'in illustratingdetails `of receiving` and recording apparatus( "Referring rst to Figure 1,- a shot "di'cated at S. Assuming work which is entirely over a waterlcrovered area the shot might be fired 'underwater to' give rise to disturbances which the bottomconnected 'to oatsywhich floats may carry` transmitting" apparatus. Adjacent -to the shot point, orin;any other convenient location,

there` is arranged ',tnejreceiverwhich may be vvired .tothe s'hot foi"` the purpose of indicating the instant the sliotis'r'ecl. VThe receiving and recording apparatus may, for example, vbe. carried in a boat f containing the firing, mechani'smand the operating personnel.` As` will become evident from the nature ofth apparatus employed at the. .detectorst'ations jthe floats referred to' above `may be placed and thereafter remain unattended whilela series of shots 'may be fired at various points `to securela seriesof records. In accordance vvith this invention each detector D is fas'- sociated with a frequency modulated oscillator E giving rise to an output which is frequency modulated bythe signals pickedup by thedetectors. i The `output from each apparatus Eis used for vamplitude modulation of a transmitter 'T whichnradiates its output fr ornanindividual antenna R. :AS an example of thel detectorfarrangement, eachapparatus Epinay comprise an oscillator'having Va base frequency of 2500 cycles'per second.V Satisfactory frequency modulation may involve adeviation giving rise to an output frequency spectrum With -significant frequencies from2000 to 3000 cycles persecondi f i The various transmitters T1,` T2, etc. associated with `the.detectors DnDg', etc. and the apparatus E1, E2, etc.. vhave diierent carrier frequencies which, `for vpurposes of simplicity of discussion, maybe assumed to be 55 megacycles for'transmitter T1, 55.1 megacycles fortransmitter'Tz', 55.2 megacycles for, transmitter T, etc. Considering these ngures the band radiated, from 'R1 win range from 54,997 to 55,003 kilocycles, thatfrom R2 from 55,097 to 55,103 kilocycles, that from R3 from 55,197 to '55,203 4 kilocycles, etc. Each of .these bands carries the signals from its corre spending detector. The bandswhile they `do not overlap, are sufliciejntly close that for a quite large number of detectors the vradiated. signals may be easily picked up by a single receiver.

The Vreceiver comprises Van antenna A feeding a first detector B which is also fed from an oscillator which we may assume to have aV frequency of 62 megacycles. A series of intermediate frequency bands are accordingly pro- 4duced which feed separate channels corresponding to the various detectors in accordance with the subscripts:indicatedv in Figure 1; '1 Each of these bands comprisesan intermediate. frequency amplifier F, a second detector G which gives rise to the original frequency modulated signals. a limiter H, a. discriminator I and a seismic amplifier J. From the seismicampliflers J there are controlled the various recording elements ventional type, which oscillograph may also form 'a record of shot instant through conventional apparatus connected to thech'arge or" to the firing apparatus as well as a timing wave which.

may be supplied in conventional fashion by a :tuningfork orother oscillator. l

`e severalV intermediat` frequency 'amplifiers andle individual bands!'which,fadhering to gures previouslygiven, would range for F1 .freies be" evidentjthat by' the arrangement Vindicated th'e'` individual 'detector' "signals mayf' be. transfinitted..froi'the detector stations'to'fa single 'receiver and are ,separatedV andseparately reis"conventionalized as' a single vacuum tube i though.. `of course, ordinarily'a multiple stage amplifier will' b e here used of ther typevcon'- ventional in'the amplification of low frequency seismic signals which may involve, for example, conventional automatic volume control, filtering,

Iamplifier istransmitted through the transformer '6H to tubes and: l0 of--a frequencyfmo'dulated oscillator operating, fo'rexa'mple'fat 2500 cycles withy a frequency deviation as describedabove. ,This frequency modulated oscillator I"may be, in general; simua'r' to that described 5in; the varticle 'Fequency j"fit/Iodulation v o f 'Resista'nce-Capaci'- tancey Oscillatorsf 'by AMauriz /Arta' inl the proceedings of the'IQREJulywl944-.f` This oscilglatorindicated generallyf'at YI2'is also described in5 my application Serial'No. 656,803, led March 25,1946. Tubes: I4 and I6 with'rsuitable interconnections including a network shown at are connectedfinpcircut'asindicated with 7the tubes''and lmthrou'gh a resistance I 8 andthe ,oscillator delivers'its` output through' the condenser A22 to an' amplifier tube 24Vwh-ich, through aftransformer 26" drives amodulator tube 28 connected throughal transformer 30 and a choke 32 to a transmitterin suchA fashionf'as to pro,- Avide amplitude `modulation of jth'e transmitter output. The transmitter '34 'comprises an" oscillator tube, 38 controlled, by ya crystal 38 drivin'glan amplifier tube 40. The output from l-.he'j transmitter" feeds ,the antenna R; which may be of conventional quarter or half wave type commonly used with amplitude modulated transmitters. It will be evident that the various parts of this apparatus are individually conventional and are chosen in accordance with conventional good practice in the radio arts. The radiated signal, howevenisser-"somewhat f speciallcharacter,v consisting of alhighl` frequency by the detector signal.

YYof'a Vmultiple recording Yosci'llograph iK of con'- The receiver used in accordance with the in` ventionis illustrated in Figure 3. The antenna A picks up 'vthe signals from all of the Ytransmitters'and is coupled through broad band trans-v former coupling indicated at 42 to the first detector 'indicated at 44. This coupling to the 1A'zAS ai enerallpicture' o'fthe'ap'paratus it Awill n corded'ndiiferentchannelsof the oscillograph. ,'lhefrecording oscillo'graph may be replaced, if

as vis used in television receiver circuits and is adjusted to pass` allfof the radio i frequency ncarriers.and side band frequencies of the' trans,- rnittrs. 'The antenna itself'should be ofith broad band .type covering frequencies" oflall' of lthe transmitters. An oscillator '46 operatingj'for `exa1npleasin`dicated at 62 megacycles, beats with the' incoming" signals to produce'intermediate frequency bands 'which' are fed* `through thecouplin'g circuits 48 which are o'f y'broad band passV type; tuned to A pass all ofy the inter? niediatefrequencies carrying the original' signals. `T Tothe outputfof the coupling arrangement theretare .connected in parallel, by\connectio`n"t'o `tlieline 50, ya series of coupling tubes 52, the plate circuits 'of which are individually tuned bythe resonant elements 54 to pass'the individualin'- termediate frequency bands corresponding v'to the various detectors; coupled as indicated at '56 tcan individual chan-` nel. The remaining portion of Figure 3 indicates only the'elements of: onewof these' channels, the others being duplicatesoftheone to be described.

AIt ,willi be assumed for simplicity of consideration :that Vthe channel which"v isVv described is theone -which 'receivesA the signal band from 6,997 `to 'v ,oo'kuoc'ycies p Y "Amplication of'this bandv is elfe'c'tedthrough thetubes and62 arranged in conventional'amplifying circuits -including theV input 'transformer `58 andthe output f transformer V64. Tuning is provided to pass thenesired bandV with suppresbsion lof the other bands withthejresult'that subfstanuauy only the desired pand is fed, through the transformer 64' to thesecond detector and amplifier 'comprisvingthe tube 66 of vtriodetwi n 'diode type arranged in a conventional circuit. vFrom this second detector and amplifier, theoutput of which is regulated bythe potentiometer 58,'there is fed through the transformer l"Illthe frequency modulatedy signals having aband extending'from 2000 to v3000 cycles..v .Thetransiformer'feeds a pair ofjlimiter tubes yl2 and arranged conventionallyl for this purpose, the out- 'put'o'f the secondjtubebeing delivered to the primary of a transformerA 1.6, they two secondaries AI8 andv 80v of which; are connected: to diodes 82 and A84', respectively, to provide a-discriniinator circuit of conventional nature., The; seondaries 18 and 80 are tuned by .condensersslightly` above v'and slightly below the Vaverage frequencyri. e'., 2500 cycles. Theoutput ofthe'discrirninator consists of the original'r'signals corresponding jto'the band under consideration andv these signals-'are 'fedl through the lines, I8B itoa conventional low frequency amplier 884 which,4 in turn,l operates th'ec'orresponding oscillogrfaph. element 90 vor an- Each of the plate circuits isv S other recording device for the production of a record of the detected signals.

As will be evident from my application Serial Number 656,803, referred to above, the various frequency modulated oscillators Ei, E2, etc. might Well operate at different base frequencies rather than at the same base'frequency so that `the second detector outputs, at transformers 10, for the various channels would consist of frequency modulated signals having different base frequencies. In such case mixing of these outputs may be provided for simultaneous recording on magnetic wire or tape or equivalent recording element. The resulting record in such case couldI be sent to a central laboratory for analysis in accordance with the practices described in my said prior application. If, however, recording in the field of the seismic signals is done, it is more economical to have all frequency modulation at the same base frequency since, as will be evident, the apparatus may then contain many duplicate parts.

It will be clear from the foregoing that numerous variations may be adopted in practicing the invention with attainment of the broad object of providing unattended detector stations with radio transmission of the detected signals to a central recording apparatus without possible confusion of the signals, and in particular by the use of` a single receiver for all of the signals, so that their original time relationships are preserved. It will be noted that slight relative phase shifts in the high frequency carriers will have only negligible effects in phase displacements of the seismic signals.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Seismic prospecting apparatus comprising a series of seismic detectors, frequency modulated oscillators individual to the detectors for producing low frequency signals frequency modulated by the seismic signals from the detectors, said low frequency signals all being of substantially the same frequency, high frequency radio transmitters producing high frequency signals modulated by said low frequency signals for transmitting said frequency modulated signals, said transmitters operating at different carrier frequencies, a receiver for signals transmitted from said transmitter, and means controlled by said receiver for differentiating and recording the detected seismic signals.

2. Seismic prospecting apparatus comprising a series of seismic detectors, frequency modulated oscillators individual to the detectors for producing low frequency signals frequency modulated by the seismic signals from the detectors, said low frequency signals all being of substantially the same frequency, radio transmitters individual to Vthe detectors producing high frequency signals modulated by said frequency modulated signals to transmit high frequency signals, said transmitters operating at different carrier frequencies, a receiver for the radio signals transmitted by all of said transmitters, means for producing intermediate frequency signals individual to said detectors, means for separating said intermediate frequency signals, means for demodulating the intermediate frequency signals to provide signals corresponding to the original frequency modulated signals, means'for demodulating the last mentioned frequency modulated signals to recover said seismic signals, and means for recording the last mentioned signals.

3'. Seismic prospecting apparatus comprising a series` of seismic` detectors, frequency modulated oscillators individual to the detectors for producing low frequency signals frequency modulated by the seismic signals from the detectors, said low frequency signals all being of substantially the same frequency, radio transmitters individual to the detectors producing high frequency signals amplitude modulated by said frequency modulated signals to transmit high frequency signals, said transmitters operating at different carrier frequencies, a receiver for the radio signals transmitted by all of said transmitters, means for producing intermediate frequency signals individual to said detectors, means for separating said intermediate frequency signals, means for demodulating the intermediate frequency signals to provide signals corresponding to the original frequency modulated signals,

means for demodulating the last mentioned frequency modulated signals to recover said seismic signals, and means for recording the last mentioned signals.

- ALFRED C. WINTERHALTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

